KZN “hospital execution”: Questions raised over security guards’ behaviour

Following a gruesome scene at Clairwood Hospital (KZN), the investigation into the shock ‘execution’ of a bullet-wounded patient has exposed some serious flaws in the facility’s security operations. The guards on duty during the Friday night shooting allegedly did very little to prevent the criminals from leaving the premesis.

Clairwood Hospital latest – what we know about the “execution”

The pair are alleged to have entered the Clairwood Hospital in Mobeni with the express purpose of murdering a foreign national in the facility, who was being treated for gunshot wounds. The men are understood to have forced their way past the guards before locating their target and shooting him in the head, in what a health department spokesperson confirmed as an ‘execution-style killing’.

The patient had been transferred from KZN’s King Edward VIII Hospital to Clairwood on late last year for further care and rehabilitation after sustaining debilitating injuries from gunfire. The two men were allowed to flee the hospital with very little resistance, and that’s a major concern for the DA.

KZN security guards called into question

The party’s spokesperson for health in KwaZulu-Natal has raised some major questions about the guards on duty that night, and linked this ‘execution’ to similar cases across the province. Rishigen Viranna is adamant that the people paid to protect the most vulnerable in South Africa aren’t being trained properly.

“This horrific shooting comes after numerous recent violent attacks at other health facilities in the KZN province. Of particular concern in this latest case is that the gunmen drove onto Clairwood Hospital’s property, seemingly without any security checks. They gained access simply by threatening the security guards.”

“This raises serious concerns regarding the training that hospital security guards receive. South African Police Services (SAPS) were also reportedly not on scene. The DA will take the necessary steps to ensure that KZN determines when the police were called and what their response time was.”

Rishigen Viranna on the KZN hospital execution

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) have expressed some similar views:

The @IFPinParliament in KZN expresses deep concern about what it says is a lack of security at the province's public hospitals. This comes after two armed men stormed past security at Clairwood Hospital security in Mobeni on Friday evening and shot dead a male patient. #sabcnews

— SAfm news (@SAfmnews) January 12, 2020